A Sojourn in Cuba 



I found to be well watered, well cared for, well 

 planted, and full of exceedingly showy and in 

 teresting plants, rare even amid the exhaustless 

 luxuriance of Cuba. These squares also con 

 tained fine marble statuary and were furnished 

 with seats in the shadiest places. Many of the 

 walks were paved instead of graveled. 



The streets of Havana are crooked, laby- 

 rinthic, and exceedingly narrow. The sidewalks 

 are only about a foot wide. A traveler experi 

 ences delightful relief when, heated and wearied 

 by raids through the breadth of the dingy yellow 

 town, dodging a way through crowds of men 

 and mules and lumbering carts and carriages, 

 he at length finds shelter in the spacious, dust- 

 less, cool, flowery squares; still more when, 

 emerging from all the din and darkness of these 

 lanelike streets, he suddenly finds himself out 

 in the middle of the harbor, inhaling full- 

 drawn breaths of the sea breezes. 



The interior of the better houses which came 

 under my observation struck me with the pro 

 fusion of dumpy, ill-proportioned pillars at the 



